Launch of the Green Deal call at the European Research & Innovation Days 2020

From 22-24 September, the European Research and Innovation Days, the European Commission’s annual flagship event, brought together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and the public online to debate and shape the future of research and innovation in Europe.

TP Organics participated in the policy conference. A session on ‘Building a post-Covid food system economy’ showed that most participants view the inclusion of environmental externalities in food prices as the most transformative action. True cost accounting is also a priority of IFOAM Organics Europe. In the session on the Mission area: Soil health and food with organic farmer Alfred Grand, it was highlighted that cooperation across sectors and citizen engagement as well as co-implementation will be at the core of the mission. Living labs will create knowledge and design, test and disseminate innovative solutions while lighthouse farms will test and demonstrate good practices. Soil health is the starting point for systemic transformations across value chains and territories.

The event also provided the possibility to learn more about the new Horizon 2020 call on the European Green Deal. With a budget of 1 EUR billion, the Green Deal call will fund research & innovation projects in 8 thematic areas. Area 6, Farm to Fork makes a reference to organic: “The Farm to Fork Strategy, which is at the heart of the European Green Deal, […] requires and builds on innovative solutions that can be scaled up, such as agro-ecological and organic practices […].”

Read the full call for proposals on the European Commission’s website. Deadline for submissions is 26 January 2021. The projects selected for funding are expected to start in autumn 2021. Report of the Mission Board “Caring for soil is caring for life”.